 | It has been suggested that this article be merged with Vibration white finger . (Discuss) Proposed since March 2024. |
 | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(August 2013) |
In occupational safety and health, hand arm vibrations (HAVs) are a specific type of occupational hazard which can lead to hand arm vibration syndrome.
Exposure to hand arm vibrations is a respectively newer occupational hazard in the work place. While hand arm vibrations have been occurring ever since the first usage of the power tool, concern over damage due to HAVS has lagged behind its fellow hazards such as Noise and chemical hazards. While safety engineers worldwide are collaboratively working on instilling both an Exposure Action Value and an Exposure Limit Value similar to the occupational noise standards, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the only regulatory public safety administration in the United States, has yet to offer either official values in the U.S. [1]
Occupations at risk of Hand and Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVs) includes Mining, Foundry, and highest exposure being within construction. [2] One unexpected occupation that is associated with HAVs is dentistry. [2] Dentistry is mainly associated with Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD). [2] Consequently, HAVs is also linked to this field's ergonomic health issues due to the frequent use of dentistry hand-piece tools. [3] As reported by the Vibration Directive of European Legislation, real-time or one-time use of the dental tools does not surpass the exposure limit. [3] However, a long history of frequent handling of these tools has later been associated with Dental workers experiencing HAVs with inclusion of outside factors, such as high Body Mass Index (BMI). [3] While these workplace industries more prominently affect men in the working population, there are still a significant number of women who also experience HAVs. [4] According to a study conducted in Sweden, about 2% of all women and 14% of all men utilize vibrating tools for work. [4] Women are more likely to experience the symptoms for HAVs at a higher prevalence than men. [4]
While OSHA has yet to supply these values, other countries agencies have. The Health and Safety Executive of the British Government suggests to use an Exposure Action Value of 2.5 m/s2 and an Exposure Limit Value of 5.0 m/s2. [5] which is based on the EU directive from 2002. [6] However, it has been shown that those exposure levels still are not safe as 10% of a population would get sensorineural injuries after 5 years at action level exposure. [7] The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety promotes the ACGIH Threshold Limit Values shown by the adjacent table. [8] When the time-weighted acceleration data exceeds these numbers for the duration, damage from HAVS begins. [9]
There have been additional recommendations based from National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to minimize exposure of vibrating tools. [10] Workplaces and Physicians' offices should not only view HAVs as a serious condition but should also look into implementing change. These implementations include engineering control, medical surveillance, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to mitigate vibration exposure. [11] Another implication refers to administrative controls, an example being limiting the amount of hours/days a worker is using the vibrating tools. Furthermore, companies could provide adequate training to workers on the hazards and protocols of handling vibrating tools, along with supplying tools that generate the least amount of vibration while still completing the assignment. [10]
There are only a few ways to lower the severity and risk of damage from HAVS without complete engineering redesign on the operation of the tools. A few examples could be increasing the dampening through thicker gloves and increasing the trigger size of the tool to decrease the stress concentration of the vibrations on the contact area, but the best course of action would be to buy safer tools that vibrate less. These Exposure Action Values and Exposure Limit Values seem rather low, when compared to lab tested data, shown by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Power Tools Database. Just an example out of the database, the reciprocating saws look to have extremely violent vibrations with one of the saws vibrations reaching 50 m/s2 in one hand and over 35 m/s2 in the other. [12]
There are various occupational standards of vibration measurement for HAV in use in the United States. They are ANSI S3.34, ACGIH-HAV standard, and NIOSH #89-106. Internationally, European Union Directive 2002/44/EC and ISO5349 are the vibration measurement standards for HAV. [13]
Hand arm vibrations can affect anyone that uses them for a prolonged period of time. There are many types of tools that use hand arm vibrations including chainsaws, engineering controls, and power tools. [14] [15] Many industrial workers use these power tools, for example, when working with construction. Some of the side effects of using hand arm vibrations are discomfort in the head and jaw, chest and abdomen pains, and changing speech. [16] Depending on the way the hand arm vibration instruments are held, it can influence the vibration effects. This includes the grip force that the worker uses on the tool, the density of the material the tool is being used on, and the texture of the material the tool is used on. [17] If the material is harder, the vibrations would shake more vigorously compared to a softer material. Hand arm vibrations can also affect people daily with the pain of using these tools such as disturbing sleep, inability to work in certain conditions, and having a hard time doing daily tasks. [18] Hand arm vibrations can affect the daily lives of workers that use these tools.
While there are different tools used to monitor HAV, a simple system can be used in organizations highlighting excess use of grinding disks when using a hand held angle grinder. This is re-active monitoring and it was introduced by Carl West at a fabrication workshop in Rotherham, England in 2009. [19]
In organic chemistry, isocyanate is the functional group with the formula R−N=C=O. Organic compounds that contain an isocyanate group are referred to as isocyanates. An organic compound with two isocyanate groups is known as a diisocyanate. Diisocyanates are manufactured for the production of polyurethanes, a class of polymers.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, electrical, heat, chemical, biohazards, and airborne particulate matter. Protective equipment may be worn for job-related occupational safety and health purposes, as well as for sports and other recreational activities. Protective clothing is applied to traditional categories of clothing, and protective gear applies to items such as pads, guards, shields, or masks, and others. PPE suits can be similar in appearance to a cleanroom suit.
An occupational injury is bodily damage resulting from working. The most common organs involved are the spine, hands, the head, lungs, eyes, skeleton, and skin. Occupational injuries can result from exposure to occupational hazards, such as temperature, noise, insect or animal bites, blood-borne pathogens, aerosols, hazardous chemicals, radiation, and occupational burnout.
Construction site safety is an aspect of construction-related activities concerned with protecting construction site workers and others from death, injury, disease or other health-related risks. Construction is an often hazardous, predominantly land-based activity where site workers may be exposed to various risks, some of which remain unrecognized. Site risks can include working at height, moving machinery and materials, power tools and electrical equipment, hazardous substances, plus the effects of excessive noise, dust and vibration. The leading causes of construction site fatalities are falls, electrocutions, crush injuries, and caught-between injuries.
Chemical hazards are typical of hazardous chemicals and hazardous materials in general. Exposure to certain chemicals can cause acute or long-term adverse health effects. Chemical hazards are usually classified separately from biological hazards (biohazards). Main classifications of chemical hazards include asphyxiants, corrosives, irritants, sensitizers, carcinogens, mutagens, teratogens, reactants, and flammables. In the workplace, exposure to chemical hazards is a type of occupational hazard. The use of protective personal equipment (PPE) may substantially reduce the risk of damage from contact with hazardous materials.
Vibration white finger (VWF), also known as hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) or dead finger, is a secondary form of Raynaud's syndrome, an industrial injury triggered by continuous use of vibrating hand-held machinery. Use of the term vibration white finger has generally been superseded in professional usage by broader concept of HAVS, although it is still used by the general public. The symptoms of vibration white finger are the vascular component of HAVS.
An occupational hazard is a hazard experienced in the workplace. This encompasses many types of hazards, including chemical hazards, biological hazards (biohazards), psychosocial hazards, and physical hazards. In the United States, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conduct workplace investigations and research addressing workplace health and safety hazards resulting in guidelines. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) establishes enforceable standards to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. In the EU, a similar role is taken by EU-OSHA.
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are injuries or pain in the human musculoskeletal system, including the joints, ligaments, muscles, nerves, tendons, and structures that support limbs, neck and back. MSDs can arise from a sudden exertion, or they can arise from making the same motions repeatedly repetitive strain, or from repeated exposure to force, vibration, or awkward posture. Injuries and pain in the musculoskeletal system caused by acute traumatic events like a car accident or fall are not considered musculoskeletal disorders. MSDs can affect many different parts of the body including upper and lower back, neck, shoulders and extremities. Examples of MSDs include carpal tunnel syndrome, epicondylitis, tendinitis, back pain, tension neck syndrome, and hand-arm vibration syndrome.
An occupational exposure limit is an upper limit on the acceptable concentration of a hazardous substance in workplace air for a particular material or class of materials. It is typically set by competent national authorities and enforced by legislation to protect occupational safety and health. It is an important tool in risk assessment and in the management of activities involving handling of dangerous substances. There are many dangerous substances for which there are no formal occupational exposure limits. In these cases, hazard banding or control banding strategies can be used to ensure safe handling.
Workplace health surveillance or occupational health surveillance (U.S.) is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and dissemination of exposure and health data on groups of workers. The Joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health at its 12th Session in 1995 defined an occupational health surveillance system as "a system which includes a functional capacity for data collection, analysis and dissemination linked to occupational health programmes".
Prevention through design (PtD), also called safety by design usually in Europe, is the concept of applying methods to minimize occupational hazards early in the design process, with an emphasis on optimizing employee health and safety throughout the life cycle of materials and processes. It is a concept and movement that encourages construction or product designers to "design out" health and safety risks during design development. The process also encourages the various stakeholders within a construction project to be collaborative and share the responsibilities of workers' safety evenly. The concept supports the view that along with quality, programme and cost; safety is determined during the design stage. It increases the cost-effectiveness of enhancements to occupational safety and health.
A physical hazard is an agent, factor or circumstance that can cause harm with contact. They can be classified as type of occupational hazard or environmental hazard. Physical hazards include ergonomic hazards, radiation, heat and cold stress, vibration hazards, and noise hazards. Engineering controls are often used to mitigate physical hazards.
The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 are a set of regulations created under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 which came into force in Great Britain on 6 July 2005. The regulations place a duty on employers to reduce the risk to their employees’ health from exposure to vibration whether this is caused by the use of hand-held or hand-guided power equipment, holding materials which are being processed by machines or which is caused by the sitting or standing on industrial machines or vehicles.
Occupational hearing loss (OHL) is hearing loss that occurs as a result of occupational hazards, such as excessive noise and ototoxic chemicals. Noise is a common workplace hazard, and recognized as the risk factor for noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus but it is not the only risk factor that can result in a work-related hearing loss. Also, noise-induced hearing loss can result from exposures that are not restricted to the occupational setting.
Ergonomic hazards are physical conditions that may pose a risk of injury to the musculoskeletal system due to poor ergonomics. These hazards include awkward or static postures, high forces, repetitive motion, or short intervals between activities. The risk of injury is often magnified when multiple factors are present.
Engineering controls are strategies designed to protect workers from hazardous conditions by placing a barrier between the worker and the hazard or by removing a hazardous substance through air ventilation. Engineering controls involve a physical change to the workplace itself, rather than relying on workers' behavior or requiring workers to wear protective clothing.
Occupational dust exposure can occur in various settings, including agriculture, construction, forestry, and mining. Dust hazards include those that arise from handling grain and cotton, as well as from mining coal. Wood dust, commonly referred to as "sawdust", is another occupational dust hazard that can pose a risk to workers' health.
Hazard substitution is a hazard control strategy in which a material or process is replaced with another that is less hazardous. Substitution is the second most effective of the five members of the hierarchy of hazard controls in protecting workers, after elimination. Substitution and elimination are most effective early in the design process, when they may be inexpensive and simple to implement, while for an existing process they may require major changes in equipment and procedures. The concept of prevention through design emphasizes integrating the more effective control methods such as elimination and substitution early in the design phase.
Occupational exposure banding, also known as hazard banding, is a process intended to quickly and accurately assign chemicals into specific categories (bands), each corresponding to a range of exposure concentrations designed to protect worker health. These bands are assigned based on a chemical’s toxicological potency and the adverse health effects associated with exposure to the chemical. The output of this process is an occupational exposure band (OEB). Occupational exposure banding has been used by the pharmaceutical sector and by some major chemical companies over the past several decades to establish exposure control limits or ranges for new or existing chemicals that do not have formal OELs. Furthermore, occupational exposure banding has become an important component of the Hierarchy of Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs).
There are unique occupational health issues in the casino industry, many of which are attributed to repetitive tasks and long-term exposures to hazards in the casino environment. Among these issues are cancers resulting from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke, musculoskeletal injury (MSI) from repetitive motion injuries while running table games over many hours, and health issues associated with shift work. Safety and regulatory agencies in the United States have implemented regulatory measures to address the specific risks associated with workers in the casino industry, and have made efforts to identify additional possible risks to casino workers, including noise-induced hearing loss and heavy metal poisoning from exposure to dust from coins.
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